Meet The Marlboro Man

     This piece is dedicated to anyone that has read or seen posts on my Facebook or Twitter page in the last couple of years. You may have seen some banter or direct quotes from a man whom I call the Marlboro Man. He's a Cowboy who has always been dear to my heart. 

   I hate that he smokes too much, drinks whiskey and cusses... A LOT ( I leave the cussing out of his quotes.) He's a tough old man who's seen years of hardship, fun, and love. If you ask him how life's been so far, he'll tell you point blank,  
  "Full. But it ain't done with me yet.". I hope that's true, because I've never met anyone quite as unique as the Marlboro Man.
    I call him the 'Marlboro Man,' for a couple of reasons. One being that he's a smoker, an avid smoker, with a matching cough and yellowing finger tips. And though he looks rough, it's easy to see that in his younger days he was quite handsome and fit.
    Even in his ageing vessel, the brilliant light in his blue eyes is always visible, always captivating and his stories are even more so. He's told me many times before, 
 "I ain't a young buck no more, Baby Girl. But I seen a lot of life. Looked it square in the eye, and sometimes it looked back and dared me." Then he smiles a little and coughs. And I know that he accepted those dares. 
    He's silent, pointing his discolored finger at me, with a lit cigarette placed firmly between his first two fingers. Making sure that I understand what he means. He pulls his arm back slowly and nods, because he sees that I do understand. The smoke follows his hand, then dissipates.
      I love how in his eyes, he can still see me as a 'child' in certain ways. He views the world with an old school perspective; one where men are still gentlemen, who open doors, pull out chairs, say 'please' and 'thank you' and give a firm hand shake while looking you in the eye. Men that would never think of calling any woman a 'bitch' or a 'ho' (even if it were true), and their word is better than any legal written contract.
    He's spent nearly his entire life on a ranch or in the arenas, riding bulls and training bull riders. He's that kind of cowboy. The kind that is up with the sun, works hard all day, goes to bed when the sun goes down, then wakes up to do it all over again.
     Most of his stories begin with the words,
 "When I was.." and end leaving you wishing that they didn't. 
      
    My friend says, "They don't make men like the Marlboro Man anymore." I know that he's right, but did they ever MAKE men like that or is that some sort of sorry excuse for the way we've mishandled the responsibility of raising our own children? And why can't we still MAKE men like the Marlboro Man, less the smoking and the hacking cough?
   The Marlboro Man has an amazing ability to see when something's wrong or right for that matter and has a near perfect analogy for nearly any situation.    
   He's much like the Cowboy version of Kahlil Gibran (a favorite of mine too); just as deep and thought provoking but less wordy as most cowboys are (less wordy I mean). 
   He's always told me, "Black and white are just colors...the world is full of color and shades of gray..know where you stand in it...and don't lose your footing."

  He also says...." I seen a lot of things in my time, Cupcake. Some things that would turn a man's heart sour, or make him stop believing that there's a power higher than himself. It's just not true. If you can see the world through the eyes of someone else, you got it half licked....if you can empathize with someone else in pain... love when your heart's still broken...and taste life the way it's handed to you... you got it mostly licked, I suspect." He draws heavily on the cigarette as it nears the filter and brushes at the dust  on his worn leather boot with his weathered hand.
        
     Mid summer the Marlboro Man disappears from the arenas with his nephews to northern California, to relax and strategically plan for the upcoming bull riding season.
    I have treasured every minute that I have spent with him and I hope that I have many more opportunities to learn from him. 

These are some of my favorite 'Marlboro Man' quotes.  Some are serious and some are silly, but they all own his character :)
     

"Understanding comes from getting knocked down...Courage comes from getting back up."

"Strength shows in your attitude...Stress shows on your face."

"If you wanna see the world through my perspective...shut up and let me tell it my way."

"Knowing where you stand...don't make ya tired when there's standing room only."

"PAIN (of any kind), reminds us why we don't like it."

"The company you keep says a lot about you...at some point you should always let them go home."

"Knowing when to walk away, is something we all hope we can recognize...Actually doing it, is something else altogether." 

"Into each life a little rain must fall..you gotta decide which drops to dodge and which ones to let fall on ya."

"Don't stop believin'......hold  onto that feelin." Yeah he quoted Journey, lol

"Every Cowboy needs a hat, a good pair of boots, his first rodeo & a cowgirl of his own."

"The right cowboy won't stay away...hang your hat there."

Copyright 2013 -2017 - Noelle Sangster/Sangster Entertainment LLC - All rights reserved

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